Sermon Tone Analysis

So the disciples go out on a boat

things are going well

the waters start to rise the black clouds start to roll in

The lightning begins to crack

The boat tosses back in forth, things begin to fall off of shelves

The disciples start to freak out knowing that they are surely going to drown as the boat fills with water, so they run down stairs

And Jesus is asleep…

How on earth was this possible?

What gave Jesus a heart that was able to rest in the tumult?!

We will answer that in a second, but first I would like to focus on the disciples...

They had no rest in this situation, they were completely beside themselves

What was causing their reaction?

Was it the storm, or was it their heart?

The answer is yes… but it was mostly their heart

They had been following this unbelievably powerful Jesus for some time, still early in His ministry, but they had seen some things, so their response is perfect to teach us how to have a heart that is able to rest despite the storm

What was the question they asked him?

They wanted to know if Jesus cared…

How many times has this same question come out of our mouths?

Does God care about my situation, my addiction, my shame, my failures?

God has to care, He wouldn't have sent His Son if He didn't!

Some of us think that were too insignificant for God to care

Mt 20:

To have a life of rest… We must realize that no matter the situation, Jesus cares

Obviously Jesus cares for the disciples as the boat tosses up and down, because of what He does next

To live a life of rest, we must understand that Jesus has never for a moment lost control

If the disciples would have remembered that Jesus is in control of everything, they could have weathered the storm in confidence

If things feel like they are spinning out of control, you feel like your so busy that you cant keep up, we need to be able to rest in the fact that God is in control of His world and His church

If we stay up at night, or don’t take a sabbath, often that is us admitting with our actions that we don’t trust that God keeps things running even when we are fast asleep in the middle of the night.

We don’t have to focus on how we are going to fix things

How are you doing with this?

In order to grow in this, believing that God is in control, we must ask God to help us in this final point

We kill fear with faith

This is the key difference between the unrest of the disciples and the rest of Jesus… He had faith…

Faith that God cared… and God was in control… He knew that God had a perfect will and the ability to bring about His will.

Sometimes fear envelops us, like the waves were enveloping the boat that day, and thats ok, but in those moments we look to Jesus to have real rest

So Jesus was able to find rest even in the most difficult situation

So what needs attention in order to start getting real rest?

Do you need your heart to finally wrap around the fact that God both cares for us, and is in control for us?

If God were in control but didn't care… Terrifying

If God cared but wasn't in control… Useless

God is both, so you can take time to rest

That is why we have left space this weekend for you to get intentionally quiet with God and find rest for your soul